Chocolate cream cake

Winter is the season for chocolate, just like summer is the season for peaches. A piece of home made chocolate cake is a lot more satisfying then a cold, hard bar of chocolate for 1.99$. I tend to overeat chocolate without thinking...200....400...600 calories...bam, bam, bam! Is it all gone?! My own chocolate delicacy, I enjoy slowly and I don't have a nutrition table in front of me taking down the joy of eating to some numbers.

This chocolate cream cake is moist, rich but not heavy, delicate, chocolaty just enough, melting in your mouth. Everybody was raving about it. 

I made it on Monday. I had lasagna rolls to heat up for dinner, I thought... I'll throw this cake together and use the hot oven. I had all the ingredients in my kitchen, all basic. Cream, I suspect, added the amazing moisture and texture to the cake. The moisture stays days after. For breakfast, afternoon snack, with a glass of  milk, a piece of fruit...not bad, not bad at all.

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano
time: 10 min preparation + 60 min baking + 10 min cooling = 1h 20min

ingredients

• 250 g (2 sticks) butter room temperature
• 150 g (5.5 oz) dark chocolate
• 200 g (1 cup) sugar
• 16 g (1 Tablespoon) vanilla sugar
• 50 g (2 1/2 Tablespoons) honey
• 2 eggs
• 250 g (1 2/3 cups) flour
• 50 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I cut the amount almost by half, this is what I used)
• 200 ml (3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon) whipping cream (30%) room temperature (you can warm it up in a pot)

instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/355 F. Butter and flour (extra butter and flour) a 30/11cm (12/4.5 inch) loaf form.
2. Melt the chocolate in a water bath. Never allow water to boil. It's enough to heat up the water and turn the heat off and mix. You won't overheat the chocolate and won't have to wait to cool it off.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa.
4. In a bowl of a standing mixer, beat butter with sugars and honey till light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at the time. Continue mixing. Slowly add melted chocolate. 
6. Turn the mixer off. Using a wooden spatula, mix in part of flour mix and some cream. Repeat the step a couple of times, alternating flour mix and cream. The batter is thick, be prepared to use some muscle power but don't over mix it. When you see a uniform mass, stop.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared form and place it in the hot oven for about 1h.  Check if the toothpick from the middle comes out clean. The recipe said to cover the cake with aluminum foil if it was getting too dark. Mine was dark, but it was OK.